Wet cleaning system with shrinkage prevention agent

ABSTRACT

A shrinkage prevention agent for water washing of clothing that would conventionally have been dry cleaned. The shrinkage prevention agent is compromised of a steam or vacuum dry-distilled liquid of two or more plants selected from sagebrush, beefsteak plant, tea, plantaginales, aloe, chrysanthemum, pine, cedar, cypress. The shrinkage prevention agent is used in a wet cleaning system that includes water washing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to wet cleaning systems and, inparticular, a wet, or water-based, cleaning system for articles ofclothing that have been conventionally dry cleaned. In addition toproviding a system for wet cleaning of clothing, the present inventionrelates to a novel shrinkage prevention agent for use in such a wetcleaning system. The antishrink or shrinkage prevention agent minimizesor prevents the shrinkage of fabric, cloth, clothing, and articles madeof hair, silk, rayon, animal hair, animal skin, mixed spun material, andother similar materials that are likely to shrink when washed in water.The system of the present invention includes a method for washing inwater of items that would be conventionally dry cleaned, using the novelshrinkage prevention agent.

In general, cleaning in the clothing cleaning industry can be dividedinto dry cleaning and wet cleaning, which is washing in water. In orderto avoid shrinkage caused by washing in water, many clothing items areconventionally dry cleaned. These types of clothing include fabric andother clothing made of hair, silk, rayon, animal hair, animal skin, andmixed spun materials, all of which have a tendency to shrink when theyare washed in water. Therefore, at the present time, these items areconventionally only cleaned by dry cleaning. Dry cleaning employssolvents for cleaning, such as chloroethylene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane,1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane, and perchloroethylene, which iscommonly known as “perc.” Each of these solvents contain chlorine andthey present environmental problems of ozone layer destruction,ground-water pollution, as well as the presence of carcinogenicsubstances. Accordingly, environmental regulations are restricting theuse of freon-system or halogenated solvents, such as the above solvents.

Several prior art systems have been proposed for wet cleaning ofclothing that is conventionally dry cleaned. U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,947 toKazama discloses a wet cleaning system that uses a solvent of propyleneglycol monomethyl ether containing 4% to 50% by volume of water. TheKazama patent does not teach or disclose the use of the natural plantsand chemical substitutes used in the shrinkage prevention agent of thepresent invention.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 7-268,766 discloses a wetcleaning method for items that should be dry cleaned by using shrinkageprevention agent containing a water repelling silicone emulsion, such aswater-repellant dimethylpolysiloxane oil, or amine-modified siliconeoil, in combination with a detergent.

Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 6-340,897 discloses adegreasing agent that contains a water or hot water extract of tea asits active component. The extract is obtained by extracting anonfermented tea such as green tea, a semifermented tea such as oolongtea, or a fermented tea such as black tea. The degreasing agent isformed by a mixture of one or more of such extracts and then issubjected to ultrasonic vibration.

As noted above, conventional dry-cleaning solvents, such as perc,present environmental pollution problems. Similarly, the siliconeemulsion that is disclosed in the Japanese Pat. Application Laid-OpenNo. 7-268,766 is a nonflammable synthetic chemical substance thatpresents a ground-water pollution problem, to a degree. Flammablepetroleum solvents used instead of the above silicone emulsion canignite or explode, which also presents safety problems. In addition, drycleaning with various solvents used to prevent shrinkage do not providesuitable cleaning of water-soluble salt-containing contaminants, such asperspiration, although those solvents can be effective for removal ofoil-based stains.

On the other hand, the degreasing detergent of Japanese PatentApplication Laid-Open No. 6-340,897 is comprised of extracts of tea soit does not present environmental pollution problems. However, thetannin contained in the tea extract can discolor clothes when it is usedfor washing clothing. Therefore, although the degreasing agent issuitable for cleaning or degreasing of specific precision machines, itis not suitable for washing clothes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a shrinkage prevention agent thatpermits water washing of clothes and other items that wouldconventionally be dry cleaned. The shrinkage prevention agent minimizesor prevents shrinkage of the clothing during water washing and also doesnot discolor the clothes during water washing. The present invention isalso directed to a cleaning method or system that includes the use ofsuch a shrinkage prevention agent for washing clothing in water.

In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a shrinkageprevention agent that is formed by steam distillation or vacuum drydistillation of extracts of several natural plants. When such an agentis used for water cleaning of items that should be conventionally drycleaned, no shrinkage or minimal shrinkage occurs in those items.

That is, the present invention relates to a shrinkage prevention agentfor water washing, comprised of a steam distillation liquid and/or avacuum dry distillation liquid of two or more plants selected from, forexample, extracts of sagebrush, beefsteak plant, tea, plantaginales,aloe, chrysanthemum, pine, cedar and cypress and which contains at leastone organic acid, having terpene and phenol as its effective components.The shrinkage prevention agent is comprised of a steam distilled liquidfrom which the oil in the steam distillation liquid is removed and/or avacuum distillation liquid from which the initial fraction rich in loweralcohol or acetone is removed.

In addition, in several embodiments, the present invention relates to asystem for wet cleaning of clothing with natural fibers that utilizes ashrinkage prevention agent that contains at least one organic acid withterpene and phenol as its effective components. The system permits thewashing in water of items that are conventionally dry cleaned, such asfabric, cloth, and clothing made of hair, silk, rayon, animal hair,animal skin, mixed spun material and similar natural fibers. The washingsystem includes a low agitation soak cycle; cleaning assisted bymicrobubbles formed from turbulent mixing of air, water and theshrinkage prevention agent; and, is followed by a limited time, highpowered drying cycle to remove remaining moisture from the clothing.

In this invention, the shrinkage prevention agent acts to removeoil-soluble and water-soluble contaminants in addition to performing thefunction of shrinkage prevention. Such contamination-removing action isconsidered to be due to the shrinkage prevention agent's strongeraffinity to fibers than with the contaminating components because of thesurfactant content in the shrink prevention agent.

The plants that can be used to produce the shrinkage prevention agent ofthis invention include sagebrush, beefsteak plant, tea, plantaginales,aloe, chrysanthemum, pine, cedar or cypress, orange, tangerine, andsimilar plants. The skin, bark, stem, leaves, flower or root of theseplants can be used. In one preferred embodiment of this invention, atleast two or more of these plants are used on account of the unevenshrinkage prevention effect or cleaning effect produced by steamdistillation liquid or vacuum dry distillation liquid of any one type ofplant. Thus, depending on the type of fiber or contamination, at leasttwo or more plants are used to assure proper cleaning of the clothingfibers.

As mentioned above, use of multiple types of plants is desirable for aneffective shrinkage prevention agent. When multiple types of plants areused, the types of effective components contained in the shrinkageprevention agent increases and, at the same time, their content ratiobecomes more uniform and the antishrink action is exhibited against moretypes of contaminants and more types of laundry items.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Conventional dry cleaning utilizes petrochemical solvents such as percthat dissolve certain stains in clothing. Typically, the clothing isimmersed in solvent in a rotating drum. The solvent acts upon the stainsand contaminants in the clothing during an agitation or soak cycle. Thehigh-speed rotation of the drum in a spin cycle following the soak cyclecauses some of the solvent to be driven from the clothing, with theremainder to be driven off by evaporation (drying). The evaporativenature of perc is such that the drying process typically requires only asmall amount of energy or heat to remove the remaining perc from theclothing.

Use of water is typically avoided or minimized in such conventional drycleaning systems. This is on account of the attachment of water to theclothing and textile fibers in water cleaning systems, which causes theclothing fibers to expand. When the clothing is subsequently dried andthe water is removed from the fibers, then the fibers are caused toshrink, which results in shrinkage of the clothing.

As presently understood, the shrinkage prevention agent of the presentinvention acts to attach itself to various locations on the textilefibers. By contacting the textile fibers, and attaching itself to thefibers, the shrinkage prevention agent acts to repel water from thefibers and prevents water absorption by the fibers. It is presentlyunderstood that shrinkage is minimized or prevented by preventing orminimizing the amount of water that can attach to the fibers.

The shrinkage prevention agent of the present invention preferablycontains at least one organic acid, with terpene and phenol of plantorigin as its effective components. The shrinkage prevention agent canbe produced by steam or vacuum dry distillation of naturally occurringplants. The amounts of organic acid, with terpene and phenol of plantorigin, and the amounts and ratio of organic acid to other components,differs depending upon the type and the portion of the plant that isused, i.e., plant leaves, flowers or roots, as well as the harvestingtime and location. In its preferred embodiments, the shrinkageprevention agent includes acetic acid, cyclotene, 2-cyclopentenone,para-cresol, meta-cresol, orthocresol, furfuryl alcohol, guaiacol, ethylguaiacol, in addition to the following in trace amounts: propionic acid,crotonic acid, isocaproic acid, catechol, phenol, crotonaldehyde, allylalcohol, propanol, levoglucosan, acetol, maltitol, isoflavone,liquiritin, plantagin, limonene, cineole.

The shrinkage prevention agent is prepared by the steam or vacuumdistillation of bark, leaves, stems or flowers of two or more plantsselected from the group including sagebrush, beefsteak plant,plantaginales, tea, chrysanthemum, pine, cedar or cypress. The leaves,stems or flowers can be dried or used immediately after harvesting, butthe latter is preferable for minimization of change in the components.When the wood part of the pine, cedar or cypress is used, it can be dryor used immediately after collection.

Bark, leaves, stems, flowers or roots of the plant can besteam-distilled by direct injection of steam into a container in which amixture of the above materials is stored or water can be added to thecontainer for heating instead of steam injection. Although the timerequired for steam distillation depends on the type and amount of theplant used, it is normally for approximately 30 minutes and the oil inthe distilled liquid is removed to produce the shrinkage preventionagent. When the floating oil is not removed, a residue of white powdercan form on the laundry items when dried. In addition, this oil dilutesthe effective components and causes a variation in the amount of agentthat must be added for washing in water.

For vacuum dry distillation, the container in which the plant parts arestored (bark, leaves, flowers or roots) of the plant is depressurizeddown to, for example, 50-200 mmHg and, at the same time, is heated to40-250° C., preferably 200° C. In this case, gradual depressurizationand heating are preferable. The vacuum in the container can block airand prevent decomposition of the effective components due to normalpressure heating. Next, the generated gaseous components are cooled toobtain the vacuum dry distilled liquid containing the effectivecomponents, except, the removal of the initial fraction of thisdistillation liquid containing a large amount of lower alcohol, acetone,and the like, is preferable. This vacuum distillation is especiallysuitable for the wood part of pine, cedar, and cypress. When the initialfraction containing lower alcohol, acetone, and the like, is notremoved, however, the liquid produced can have an irritating odor or thecontainer can expand during storage.

Steam distillation and vacuum distillation processes are known in theart. To prepare the shrinkage prevention agent of the present invention,3 parts to 20 parts of each of two or more plants are mixed in advancefor steam distillation or vacuum dry distillation. The processefficiency is improved by this processing of combined plants, but theharvesting time of the plants can cause a variation in the availablecomponents. To avoid such variation, separate distillation of each plantand later mixing of the various effective components containing liquids,is preferable. This latter method is also desirable for avoidance ofmixing in of the oil component, lower alcohols, acetone, and similarcomponents. Separate steam or vacuum dry distillation allows forchecking of the contained effective component prior to final mixing andadjustment of the content of the agent. Normally, colored components ofthe plants, such as tannin, chlorophyll, and the like, are removed bythe steam or vacuum dry distillation process. However, if the distilledliquid remains colored, activated charcoal can be used for removal ofthe colored component by adsorption filtering.

Naturally occurring plants that may be preferably utilized in theshrinkage prevention agent of the present invention include thefollowing plants, which are listed by their common name and Latin name:

1. Black pine Pinus Thunbergii Parl. 2. Red Pine Pinus densiflora Sieb.et Zucc. 3. Ezo Spruce Picea jezoensis Carr. 4. Cypress Chamaecyparisobtusa Endl. 5. Fir Abies Firma Sieb. et Zucc. 6. Camphor treeCinnamonum Camphora 7. Khaki (Japan persimmon) Diospyros khaki Thunb. 8.White birch Betula platyphylla var. Japonica 9. Mulberry tree Morus alba10. Cherry tree Prunus yedoensis 11. Japanese apricot (ume) Prunus mume12. Rice leaves (ina) Oryza Sativa 13. Tea Camellia Sinensis 14.Sasabamboo Sasa veitchii Rehder 15. Mugwort Artemisia princeps 16.Perilla Lavandula vera / Perilla frutescens 17. Hydrangea tea vineCynostemma pentaphyllum 18. Carrot Panax spp./ Daucus Carota 19. BambooPhyllostachys pubescens 20. Leek Alium porum 21. Dropwort Cennanthephellandrium 22. Cinnamon Cinnamonum Cassia 23. Nutmeg Myrutica fragrans24. Corn Zeamays 25. Bamboo shoot Phyllostachys pubescens shoot 26.Soybeen Glycine max 27. Aloe Aloe vera 28. Japanese pepper treeXanthoxylum piperitum 29. Lemon Citrus limonum 30. “Mikan” tangerineCitrus reticulata 31. Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum morifolium 32. GrapeVitus spp. 33. Butterbur Petasites Vulgaris 34. Green onion Alliumfistulosum 35. Fig tree Ficus Carica 36. Spinach Spinacia oleracea 37.Celery Apium graveolens 38. Plum Prunus salicina 39. “Daikon” radishRaphanus Sativus var. hortensis 40. Kiwi Actidinia deliciosa 41. AppleMaleus spp. 42. Apricot Prunus armeniaca

In addition, the following oils (and their associated plants) providesatisfactory components for the shrinkage prevention agent of thepresent invention:

1. Oils, pine, Pinus thunbergii 2. Oils, pine, Pinus densiflora 3. Oils,spruce, Pinea jezoensis 4. Oils, hinoki wood 5. Oils, fir, Ables firma6. Oils, camphor 7. Oils persimmon, Diospyros kaki 8. Oils, birch,Betula platyphylla japonica 9. Oils, mulbery, Morus alba 10. Oils,Prunus yedoensis 11. Oils, rice 12. Oils, tea, Camnellia sinensis 13.Oils Sasa veitchii 14. Oils, Artemisisa princeps 15. Oils, lavender,Lavandul angustifolio 16. Oils, perilla frutescens 17. Oils, Gynostemmapentaphylla 18. Oils, ginseng 19. Oils, carrott 20. Oils, Phyllostachysedulis

As best as presently understood, the shrinkage prevention agent of thepresent invention preferably includes at least one organic acid from theabove plants, with terpene and phenol as its effective components.

The system of water washing of the present invention is similar toconventional water washing with several significant differences. Use of0.01-0.05 parts by volume of the shrinkage prevention agent of thisinvention per 100 parts by volume of regular water is presentlyunderstood to be preferable. The exact ratio can vary depending on thetype of item being laundered, and can be modified and determined bythose skilled in the cleaning art. Soaking of the clothing in thesolution of water and shrinkage prevention agent, under a limitedagitation cycle, causes the shrinkage prevention agent to cover thesurfaces of the clothing fibers. As a result, shrinking of the fibers issuppressed by prevention of direct contact with water. Furthermore, theagent of this invention is permits the clothing to be suitable fortumble-drying, which is generally not the case for laundry with aconventional dry cleaning agent.

In the wet washing system of the present invention, the shrinkageprevention agent is mixed with water in the above-described proportions.The combined mixture is then added to the clothing under agitation in alarge washing drum. It is believed to be important to the presentinvention to limit the amount of agitation of the clothing in thecleaning mixture to less than the agitation encountered in conventionaldry cleaning with perc as well as less than the agitation encountered inconventional wet washing. The agitation is limited on account of theunderstanding that too much mechanical action on the clothing fibers canlimit or overcome the shrinkage prevention effect of the agent. Aspreviously explained, the shrinkage prevention agent must be permittedto contact the clothing and then act to prevent the entry of water intothe fibers. In the washing cycle, the clothing is preferably soaked inthe cleaning mixture of water and shrinkage prevention agent for 2-6minutes, which is then followed by the limited agitation or mechanicalaction.

It is also presently preferred to add the cleaning mixture of water andshrinkage prevention agent to the clothing in the soaking cycle by theuse of microbubble generation. Microbubbles, or very small bubbles, ofthe cleaning mixture are formed by the rapid mixing or stirring of airand water with the shrinkage prevention agent. Microbubbles can begenerated by establishing a turbulent flow of the water and air mixture.One type of microbubble generator that has been developed for use withthe system of the present invention involves a restrictor in the airflow conduit that includes a dimpled or roughened surface, which createsa turbulent flow stream as the air passes over and around therestrictor. The microbubbles of air, water and shrinkage preventionagent are formed before the microbubbles contact the clothing in thesoak or agitation cycle.

Microbubbles assist the cleaning action on account of the bursting ofthe bubble as it contacts the clothing. The bursting of the microbubblecreates an ultrasonic wave, which acts to remove the contaminants fromthe clothing in a cleaning action. Moreover, the generation of themicrobubbles is understood to assist in the mixing and distribution ofthe shrinkage prevention agent throughout the water portion of themixture. The surfactant tendency of the shrinkage prevention agent thenacts to seal or contact the fibers and then repel the water portion ofthe mixture.

Following the soaking and limited agitation cycles, the drum withclothing is placed through a limited spin cycle to remove a portion ofthe cleaning mixture. The clothing is then placed through a tumbledrying cycle to evaporate the remaining water from the clothing. It ispresently understood that tumble drying the clothing at a temperature ofabout 70-80 degrees C. causes the evaporation of the water whileallowing the shrinkage prevention agent to remain in the clothingfibers. The shrinkage prevention agent permits tumble drying of theclothing following the wet washing cycle, since the shrinkage preventionagent has prevent the fibers from absorbing the water from the washcycle. The drying cycle times for the wet washing system of the presentinvention have been found to be generally of much less time durationthan the drying cycles in conventionally dry cleaned clothing. However,increased power requirements are typically necessary in light of theadditional volumes of hot air required for the system of the presentinvention. Since water must be evaporated from the clothing, greateramounts of hot air are required than conventionally required for removalof perc from clothing.

Several examples are used below to explain the invention, but the scopeof the present invention is not to be limited to these examples.

EXAMPLE 1

Preparation of the Shrinkage Prevention Agent

Water, 50 liters, is added to 10 kilograms each of beefsteak plantleaves, tea leaves, sagebrush and aloe. Steam distillation is carriedout for 30 minutes and the oil component is removed from the collectedsteam distillation liquid. Accordingly, 5 liters of steam distillationliquid was produced from each of the above-described plants. Also, 5kilograms each of pine leaves, cedar leaves and cypress leaves werevacuum dry-distilled (in a final vacuum of 20 mmHg, with a final heatingtemperature: 200° C.). The initial fraction with lower alcohol, acetone,and similar components, was discarded and 1 liter of vacuumdry-distilled liquid of each plant was produced.

A mixture of 500 milliliters of each of the steam and vacuumdry-distilled liquids was combined to form a base liquid of shrinkageprevention agent. The results of a gas chromatographic analysis of thisshrinkage prevention agent base liquid uncovered the followingcomponents:

acetic acid 1.40 weight % cyclotene 0.12 weight % 2-cyclopentanone 0.03weight % para-cresol 0.03 weight % meta-cresol 0.04 weight %ortho-cresol 0.07 weight % furfuryl alcohol 0.02 weight % guaiacol 0.04weight % ethylguaiacol 0.01 weight %

EXAMPLE 2

Water Washing of Clothing by using the above Shrinkage Prevention Agent

A quantity of 10 milliliters of the base liquid of shrinkage preventionagent was added to 16 kilograms of items to be dry cleaned, which hadbeen immersed into 70 liters of water. The clothing was washed withwater in the above-described manner with a soak cycle followed by alimited agitation cycle and then a spin cycle. Tumble drying was used toremove the remaining moisture from the clothing. The clothing was washedwithout the addition of another detergent. After washing and drying, theitems were checked for shrinkage. No shrinkage was revealed and theseitems had a soft washed texture. In addition, the oil-soluble andwater-soluble soil contaminants were found to have been removed from theclothing.

EXAMPLE 3

Water, 50 liters, was added to 10 kilograms each of beefsteak plantleaves, plantaginales, green tea leaves, chrysanthemum leaves and themixture was steam distilled for 30 minutes. The oil was removed from thecollected steam distillation liquid to produce 5 liters steamdistillation liquid of each plant component. A quantity of 500milliliters of each of these steam distillation liquids were mixed toobtain the shrinkage prevention agent base liquid. Regular washing inwater was carried out in the same way as in Example 2 without anotherdetergent. The dried items were checked for shrinkage, but none wasdetected. Both oil-soluble and water-soluble soil was found to have beenremoved from the clothing.

EXAMPLE 4

Pine leaves, cedar leaves and cypress leaves, in quantities of 5 kgeach, were vacuum dry-distilled (final vacuum: 20 mm Hg, final heatingtemperature: 200° C.). The initial fraction containing lower alcohol andacetone was discarded to produce 1 liter each of vacuum dry-distilledliquid with the mixture. 500 milliliters of these liquids were mixed toobtain a shrinkage prevention agent base liquid. Washing in water, asdescribed in Example 2, was carried out without the use of anotherdetergent. After drying, the laundry items did not show evidence ofshrinkage and both oil-soluble and water-soluble soil were found to havebeen removed.

It will thus be seen the present invention provides a novel shrinkageprevention agent, and a novel wet cleaning system, having a number ofadvantages and characteristics, including those pointed out herein andothers which are inherent in the invention. Several preferredembodiments having been described by way of illustration, it isanticipated that modifications to the described forms of product, systemand method will occur to those skilled in the art and that suchmodification and changes may be made without departing from the spiritof the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A shrinkage prevention agent for use withclothing being washed in water, said agent having a compositioncomprising a plurality of plant components, said plurality of plantcomponents including two or more types of naturally occurring plantsselected from the group of plants consisting essentially of sagebrush,beefsteak plant, tea, aloe, and chrysanthemum, said plant componentsbeing the residual product of said naturally occurring plants that havebeen treated by a distillation process, and at least one organic acid,said organic acid including terpene and phenol.
 2. The shrinkageprevention agent of claim 1 wherein said two or more types of naturallyoccurring plants are treated by steam distillation, said steamdistillation includes the removal of oil from the surface of the liquidformed by said steam distillation.
 3. The shrinkage prevention agent ofclaim 1 wherein said two or more types of naturally occurring plants aretreated by vacuum distillation.
 4. The shrinkage prevention agent ofclaim 3 wherein said vacuum distillation includes the removal of loweralcohol and acetone from the initial fraction of liquid.
 5. Theshrinkage prevention agent of claim 1 wherein said agent includes asteam distilled liquid formed from two or more types of naturallyoccurring plants and a vacuum distilled liquid from two or more types ofnaturally occurring plants, said steam distillation includes the removalof oil from the surface of the liquid formed by said steam distillation,and said vacuum distilled liquid each including at least one organicacid, said organic acid having terpene and phenol.
 6. The shrinkageprevention agent of claim 1 wherein said agent is formed from a baseliquid consisting essentially of the following components: acetic acid,cyclotene, 2-cyclopentanone, para-cresol, meta-cresol, ortho-cresol,furfuryl alcohol, guaiacol, and ethylguaiacol.
 7. The shrinkageprevention agent of claim 6 wherein said agent is formed from a baseliquid comprising the following components: acetic acid 1.40 weight %cyclotene 0.12 weight % 2-cyclopentanone 0.03 weight % para-cresol 0.03weight % meta-cresol 0.04 weight % ortho-cresol 0.07 weight % furfurylalcohol 0.02 weight % guaiacol 0.04 weight % ethylguaiacol 0.01 weight %


8. A method for cleaning clothes comprising the steps of: contactingsaid clothing with a cleaning solution, said cleaning solutioncomprising water in combination with a shrinkage prevention agent, saidagent having a composition including a plurality of plant components,said plurality of plant components including two or more types ofnaturally occurring plants selected from the group of plants consistingessentially of sagebrush, beefsteak plant, tea, aloe, and chrysanthemum,said plant components being the residual product of said naturallyoccurring plants that have been treated by a distillation process, andsaid agent composition including at least one organic acid, said organicacid including terpene and phenol, removing the cleaning solution fromsaid clothing, and drying the clothing.
 9. The method for cleaningclothes of claim 8 wherein said contacting step includes the formationof microbubbles with components of a mixture of air, water and saiddistilled liquid, said microbubble formation being accomplished byturbulent mixing of said microbubble components.
 10. The method forcleaning clothes of claim 9 wherein said contacting step includessoaking of said clothing in said microbubbles followed by agitation ofsaid clothing in said microbubbles.
 11. The method for cleaning clothesof claim 8 wherein said drying step includes tumble drying of saidclothing.
 12. A solution for cleaning of clothing comprising a mixtureof water in combination with a shrinkage prevention agent, said agenthaving a composition including a plurality of plant components, saidplurality of plant components including two or more types of naturallyoccurring plants selected from the group of plants consistingessentially of sagebrush, beefsteak plant, tea, aloe, and chrysanthemum,said plant components being the residual product of said naturallyoccurring plants that have been treated by a distillation process, andsaid agent composition including at least one organic acid, said organicacid including terpene and phenol.
 13. The solution for cleaningclothing of claim 12 wherein said mixture includes the formation ofmicrobubbles with components of a mixture of air, water and saiddistilled liquid, said microbubble formation being accomplished byturbulent mixing of said microbubble components.
 14. An apparatus forcleaning clothes comprising: a first solution contacting tank forcontaining a shrinkage prevention agent, said shrinkage prevention agenthaving a composition including a plurality of plant components, saidplurality of plant components including two or more types of naturallyoccurring plants selected from the group of plants consistingessentially of sagebrush, beefsteak plant, tea, aloe, and chrysanthemum,said plant components being the residual product of said naturallyoccurring plants that have been treated by a distillation process, andsaid agent composition including at least one organic acid, said organicacid including terpene and phenol, and an agitation tank contactingclothing with a solution of said shrinkage prevention agent and water,said agitation tank permitting a soak period without movement of saidclothing within said tank and an agitation period of limited movement ofsaid clothing within said tank.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14 whereinsaid apparatus includes a microbubble generator for the formation ofmicrobubbles with components of a mixture of air, water and saidshrinkage prevention agent, said microbubble formation being acomplishedby turbulent mixing of said microbubble components.
 16. The apparatus ofclaim 9 wherein said soak period includes soaking of said clothing insaid microbubbles and said agitation period includes movement of saidclothing in said microbubbles.